Retire in peace, servant of the sea…

Station 6 (Gqeberha) crew and the NSRI bid a poignant farewell to the beloved vessel ‘Spirit of Toft’, who has been with the NSRI since 1998 – and welcome their highly-anticipated new ORC.

Described as the “backbone of the station” by station commander Justin Erasmus, the rescue vessel “Spirit of Toft” has reached the end of an illustrious lifespan with the NSRI, making possible the saving of countless lives.

Named after the late Tommy Toft, who was instrumental in raising the funds for her purchase, this exceptional 10m Brede vessel was built in 1984 and started life with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in the UK, where she was named “Enid of Yorkshire”. She has served the NSRI for the past 26 years, based in Gqeberha, and received a complete refit 2011.

Sadly, however, her engines overheated in February this year, and she has been retired and sold.

“Her seaworthiness and reliability has given the crew the confidence to at least attempt a rescue no matter the conditions,” says Justin. “I believe many of the coxswains or crew who served on her for a decent number of calls developed an emotional relationship with her. I've heard coxswains begging and pleading with her when the chips are down – ‘just a little further or ‘we’re almost there’ – to unmentionable profanities when approaching 28 knots down the face of an eight-meter swell… But she always brought us home safely. She will be sorely missed.”

“Spirit of Toft” is set to be replaced by the sixth ORC (Offshore Rescue Craft) in the NSRI fleet, a 14m search-and-rescue craft that is self-righting and purpose-built for rescue operations in extreme conditions.

At 14.8m long and 4.8m wide, she can be deployed on rescue missions as far as 50 nautical miles from land and has an expected lifespan of at least 40 years.

She is due to go into the water for her first sea trials in May and is likely to reach her new home in Gqeberha in late June.

“The imminent arrival of the new ORC is cause for great excitement,” says Justin. “The past few months have been less-than-ideal conditions for our crew. Our station building is being refurbished, and the crew have had to make do without a men’s changing room, no boathouse and a limited ops room. We’ve had to rely on our 8.8m RIB to do our callouts, which meant using our tractor from the Noordhoek satellite station to launch and recover. I think the new ORC will have the same effect on the crew as when ‘Spirit of Toft’ arrived. Modern technology, improved safety and comfort for the crew, and overall, just a boost to the crew’s confidence and ability to do what we do.”